Two men smashed their way through a jewellers’ window with a sledgehammer to steal thousands of pound worth of watches.

The thieves ploughed their way into Peter Jackson The Jewellers on St John’s Square, in Bury town centre , at around 11.45am on Monday morning.

They snatched five Rolex watches, which sell for between £2,000 and £10,000, and one Chanel watch.

Shocked passer-by Darren Harrison said he saw smoke coming from the shop, in The Rock shopping centre.

Speaking to the M.E.N. after the incident, Darren, 46, who is from Bury, said: “I was walking through the town with my daughter for a quiet bit of shopping. “Then all of a sudden we saw these women running towards us screaming.

“There was so much smoke everywhere we thought there might have been a bomb.

“Another man near the shop said he had seen the men run off. We must have got there just moments after. Many people said they saw one man with a sledgehammer.

The raid happened at the jewellers at The Rock shopping centre in Bury (Image: Google)

“It’s frightening really that it’s happening here. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

It is understood the smoke was due to a ‘smoke alarm’ commonly used by jewellery stores which are intended to confuse thieves in the event of a robbery.

Darren captured the aftermath on camera and posted the video to Twitter.

Police confirmed they are investigating armed robbery and said they are continuing their inquiries.

He said: “Two men tried to gain access to the shop with one using a sledgehammer to get inside.

“They stole five Rolex watches and one Chanel watch.”

Anyone who witnessed the robbery is asked to contact police on the non-emergency number on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.